Furby, the cute and cuddly electronic pet, is back and this time is is more responsive, more intelligent and interacts with an accompanying iPad, iPhone and iPod touch application. Owners can feed their Furby using the app, play music the robot creature may dance too (if it likes it), and even use their iOS device to translate Furbish, the language the Furbies speak.

Another big change over the Furby toys of just over a decade ago comes with the creature's eyes. Instead of a blank stare, each Furby now comes with LED screens for peepers. These have multiple animations that help you keep track of your electronic pet's emotions.

This is vitally important as the artificial intelligence this time around really picks up on how you treat your Furby. Hug and tickle it often, and it will become docile and loving. Pull its tail and generally be mean to it, and you may end up with a mischievous, cackling beast. It's like being a real parent, only without the nappies (when young) or caning your credit card (older),

Each Furby can end up with a whole host of different personality traits depending how you play with it. For example, it may get to like your own taste in music. Play it the same song or artist every day, and it'll end up dancing if it likes that specific choice.

Putting Furbies in close proximity to each other will also trigger different moods and behaviour. Even while Pocket-lint was checking them out at the Hasbro Christmas in July event in London, two of the Furbies fell in love with each other - signified by the pupils in their eyes turning into love hearts.

They will also babble a lot in Furbish, the same play language the original models spoke in. This time though, spark up the iPad or iPhone app and it will listen to what they say and translate it to the language of your choice. It's a bit like a version of Siri for small furry creatures.

You can actually teach it to speak full English (or your own home tongue) after a while, by repeating words to it as if it were a parrot. We didn't have time to do this at the event, and there were Children present, so we weren't able to try out any cheekier practices.

Feeding a Furby through the app becomes almost a game. You can make a sandwich from different ingredients, and when done swipe it up the top of the screen towards the pet. Depending on what foodstuff your specific Furby needs or likes, you'll get different responses.

Hasbro's new Furby will be coming out in the Autumn, with six in the range initially and a further four becoming available in time for Christmas. They each cost £59.99.

What do you think? Did you own a Furby the first time around? If so, what happened to it? Let us know in the comments below...